Reduced to Single Sentences
by Scarabbug
Summary: Fifty sentences based on Justice League characters, set across various time periods and in no particular order.
1. Superman

**This was created for a one sentence challenge over on LiveJournal, though I think I'm using the wrong challenge tables. What the heck. The challenge was to write a single sentence for every prompt on the given table.**

**I'm starting with the man in blue. As you can see, I cheated in a few places –they aren't strictly _one_ sentence long, but close enough. Several episodes are references here. For a little bit of fun, see if you can guess which they are.**

* * *

"_If life's lessons could be reduced to single sentences, there would be no need for fiction."_

– Scott Turow.

* * *

Superman.

_**001. Love**__:_ Lois accepted this fact above all others long ago –the Man of Steel has a Heart of Gold, and enough room in it for a lot of people.

_**002. Hate**__: _It's impossible for him to hate the Justice Lords, no matter how much he wants to, because he can't hate someone who made the same choices he's considered so many times.

_**003. Pain**_: Mom is never going to forget the time Clark (he's _always_ Clark to her) took his first kryptonite bullet –and the look on her face when he walked through the door the day afterwards hurt him more than any physical injury.

_**004. Joy**__: _"**Superman,** I swear to god the next time you pull that kind of a stunt on me, I'm going to find some big wig sorcerer to resurrect you so I can kill you again myself!"

"It's nice to see you too, Lois."

_**005. Fear**_: "He won't kill him, he can't... not the last bit of conscience he has left, he _won't_ kill him... _I_ wouldn't kill him, I _wouldn't_, so surely he...

....He _is_ me, isn't he?'

_**006. Trust**__: _"What're you waiting for, boy scout? Sweep me off my feet already."

_**007. Betray**_: He's the only person who hasn't yet raised his hand to pass judgement, but then, Batman already knows how Superman will vote, and her betrayal won't affect his decision half as much as his memories do.

_**008. Promise**_. "You don't think that... I know, dear, but- oh, there's someone at the door, I'll call you back later, but _please_, promise me you'll be careful... I love you."

_**009. Appreciate. **_"Jimmy, look, I appreciate your trying to help me here..."

_**010. Annoy.**_ "...But this is really _not_ a good time."

_**011. Death**_. They say "_the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death_", but Superman already knows all about the number of times they've defeated _that_ law – the real last enemy is still out there, and when it arrives, it isn't going to be pretty.

_**012. Blood.**_ The first time he tastes his own blood in his mouth is almost enough to paralyse him –but only for a moment.

_**013: Grave**_. Staring up at the statue marking the burial place of his empty coffin, Superman isn't sure whether to feel more humbled, touched, or totally embarrassed.

_**014: Life.**_ He knows his lifespan will be so much longer than most humans, and that frightens him if he thinks about it too much.

_**15. Breath**_. A single breath is enough to keep him going right through the stratosphere and into the vacuum –but this isn't something he really thought about, until the day something forces him to let that breath out and, for a moment, he feels as ordinary mortals must in the pitiless depths of space.

_**16: Mind**_. Their minds and the minds of the Justice Lords are configured in the exact same way right up until one fateful point, and Clark swears to heaven, hell, and everything in between that he will _never_ allow that moment to occur in this universe.

_**17. Think.**_It takes him less than ten seconds to work out what must have happened, in between hearing Lois's distant call and tasting the acrid scent of smoke on the breeze.

**18. Share**."Peanut brittle?"

"...."

"Just asking."

**19. Toy**. Of all the people who could've possibly killed the Man of Steel, nobody had put the damn _Toyman_ on the list.

**20. Guard. **Seriously, Supes, you can quit it with the pacing and the flinching and the uneasy looks every time someone drops a _penny_; Braniac's in pieces and Luthor's locked up, so he's not gonna kill me, and you're not gonna kill _him_ either, right?"

**21. Moonlight**. Looking at the moon is an entirely different experience when you can look up there and think "I was standing up there this time last week."

**022. Sunshine. **The fact that Superman's powers are born from the light of yellow sun is common knowledge to almost all the villains in his rogue's gallery –and is of absolutely no use to most of them because come on, who the _heck_ knows how to change the colour of the sun?

**023. Wish.** "I wish you could understand how much better our world became because of his death, Clark."

"I hope I never do."

**O24. Undecided. **The seventeen seconds it takes Kal-El to figure out that no –he isn't going to kill Lex Luthor, he isn't _like_ that, are the longest seventeen seconds of the League's life.

_**025. Heaven. **_It's not like he's ever been dead before, but Superman is pretty sure that the afterlife _shouldn't_ come with giant cockroaches.

_**026. Dispose. **_Sometimes he dreams about how easy it would be to dispose of them; all of them, everyone who ever tried to hurt the ones he cares about_**. **_

_**027. Illusive**_**. **"Oh-kay, it's not a bird, it's _definitely_ not a plane... I think that narrows down the list of possibilities to exactly _one_, wouldn't you say?"

_**028. Inside**_**. **Being within the alien realm reminds him of being inside a living being, complete with a giant bacterial invasion –it's not a comfortable thought, so he shoves it away and prepares to fight his way out.

_**029. Home**_**. **You can always tell when Clark's been home for the weekend, because he comes to work on Monday whistling some obscure tune that you just _know_ came from his father's music collection.

_**030. Sleep**_: "Mista Supaman, my daddy says that you sleep onna cloud on Mount Av-a-rest, is that true?"

_**031. Phone**_ "Hello, Kent residence? Oh, hello Clark, it's so nice to hear from... Why, no I think you took the mind controlling helmet out of here last weekend, didn't you?"

_**032. Discover**_. "Seriously, Smallville, how long did you think it would take me to work out that Superman _always_ shows up moments after _you_ disappear?"

_**033. Investigate**_. When he says he goes through _everyone's_ trash that _includes_ Superman, and you'd be surprised by how much the quantity of bananas someone consumes is indicative of the world's descent into Armageddon.

_**034. Confide**_. "...You know when I told you that I never even got my first merit badge?"

_**035. Follow**_. "There's no sense in holding your breath, Wally; I have super _hearing_, too, I already know you're there."

_**036. Threat**_. "Sorry, mom, I know I said I'd call straight after the apocalypse was over but I was really busy and... sorry."

_**037. Survive. **_Losing his powers is a painful reminder of how hard it must be for many of the less durable –read: normal– Justice League members to even stay _alive_, some days.

_**038. Together**_. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to, but... no, don't think like that, kid; we're in this together, understand?'

_**039. Remember**_. It's not something he cares to think about, but he does anyway - every time another Metropolitan building topples under the stress of yet another battle: "_The whole damn world is made of cardboard_."

_**040. Mistake**_. It's in that moment, just as Captain Marvel is receding from his line of vision, that he realises the worst decision he's ever made was not trusting a ten year old.

_**041. Try. (sequel to 008**_) 'I _know_ it's dangerous... Heh, yeah, I know, this is an old conversation, one day we might even stop having it, but... alright, I'll try my best. Love you too, mom.'

_**042. Fall**_. First lesson about being trapped under a red sun –not being about to fly is really, _really_ annoying.

_**043. Redo**_. He runs through every act he imagines his duplicate going though; traces every movement he's ever made, trails through every memory he has, and then, when the day finally comes, he tries to repeat it – only this time the outcome will be the _right _one, Clark is sure of it.

**044. Experiment**. Clark has never been much of a scientist, but he knows that that many pieces of exposed wiring can't possibly make for a safe working environment, not even if the guy who works here happens to be Batman.

_**045. Hollow**_**. **It's difficult to think about the Justice Lords; and harder still to have the hollow face of the Question gazing at him, as he is forced to remember everything that he (another he, but nonetheless) did wrong**. **

_**046. Missing: **_"Hey there; your name's Annie, isn't it? We've been looking _everywhere_ for you, your parents are really worried; it's time to go home."

_**047. Broken**_. The world is made of cardboard, but in the case of Batman, Clark thinks, it's highly _resilient_ cardboard, and nothing is going to be broken in _this_ battle, except maybe for Darkseid.

_**048. Sympathy.**_ "My planet was destroyed too, Shayera; believe me, I may not have been there but... I understand better than you realise."

**049. Collide**. Quite frankly, Clark thinks, he's getting really tired of alternate versions of himself that for some reason always turn out malevolent.

_**050. Writer's choice**_. It's with a grim, cold frustration that he finally (reluctantly) loosens his grip: "I'm not the man who killed President Luthor. Right now I wish to_ heaven_ I were, but I'm _not_."

* * *


	2. Wonder Woman

**This set was originally gonna be Batman, but the more I looked over the prompts, the less of him I saw in them and the more I saw of Diana, so... there ya go. My Wonder Woman voice kinda... sucks at the moment due to total under use, but I guess this is as good a practise as any. **

**Oh, by the way: To that lovely person who was nice enough to review the last chapter but did so anonymously. You're _half_ right: that the quote was used **_**in**_** Harry Potter, but the original quote if biblical in nature (1 Cor. 15:26). Almost everything is a quote of something else these days...**

* * *

**Wonder Woman.**

_**001. Finish**_: She draws a breath and ends the battle before it's even begun.

_**002. Nothing**_: Eternal Life means little to her if her long existence can't serve a purpose.

_**003. Alone**_: None of them (except possibly for J'onn, whose species is long lived enough to understand, at least in part) can know the burden of immortality quite as keenly as Diana.

_**004. Desperate**_: Diana only begins to appreciate just how bad things are getting when she considers using her lasso on the next Thanagarian she sees walking in her direction –even if it's Shayera.

_**005. Down**_: The only phrase in existence which could possibly be as surprising (not to mention disturbing) as "Superman is down" is "Wonder Woman just went down too."

_**006. Tongue**_: When she was much (_much_) younger, Diana spoke so loudly, so brashly and so often, than her mother used to affectionately jest that had she known her daughter would turn into such as chatterbox, she would have neglected to mould her a tongue.

_**007. Hair**_: Black –ebony black, long and beautiful, like the models on the front of glossy magazines, except that the chances of Wonder Woman opting to appear on one of those things are incredibly remote.

_**008. Kiss**_: The kiss was an unfair distraction, but fortunately Diana has the opportunity to get her own back later.

_**009. Smile**_: Getting the bus to town at six in the morning, arriving just in time to hit the rush hour commuters: three dollars; buying an umbrella from the vender because it started pouring on your stall unexpectedly: eight dollars; Being smiled at by a goddess when you give her directions to Central City: _priceless_.

_**010. Imagine**_: Diana does not need to imagine the phenomenal power of the heavens; she is on first name terms with many of its inhabitants.

_**011. Defy**_: Diana is not –nor will ever be– her father's daughter.

_**12. Noise**_: The curse she whispers is so quiet and heartfelt that nobody –not even Wally– dares to comment on it.

_**13. Celebrate**_: "Thank you, Clark, this was a great surpri... you know, I don't think I'm entirely certain _how_ old I am now."

_**014. Morgue**_: Her first visit to the burial place alarms her –Metropolis is nothing like Thymiscria, which has its beauty to guide the dead into the afterlife.

_**015. Charm**_: "It figures; we spend hours trying to come up with a creative, inobtrusive route into the Penguin's lair and she just... charms her way in through the front door."

_**016. Bath**_: If she had to raise one argument about Batman's designs of the Watchtower then it would be this – the bathrooms aren't _nearly_ big enough.

_**17. Dance**_: She is perhaps the only person alive who can make the act of smashing the bad guys heads together look anything close to elegant.

_**18. Scream**_:"...Uh... John, did I just hear Wonder woman _screaming_ or am I having a minor hallucinatory reaction?"

_**19. Kick**_: Bad guys usually find out the hard way why she considers the boots practical.

_**20. Feel**_: Amazons such as her are not well known for hiding their emotions – it simply isn't in her blood.

_**21. Stutter**_: "H...hello mother, I... I apologise for not contacting you sooner but... ah... Yes, I think a talk would be appropriate."

_**22. Learn**_: She carefully traces the ancient Greek words in the huge tome with her fingertips, and tries not to long for the world beyond her native shores.

_**23: Flight**_: "Uh... hey, Wonder Woman, question: if you can fly why do you even _need_ an invisible—"

"_Hank_!"

"What? I'm just asking!"

_**24. Steal**_: She tells herself that this is _not_ stealing –she's only borrowing what needs to be borrowed- as she carefully slips her wrists through Artemis's cuffs, and feels them mould against her skin as if they had been made for her.

_**25. Fascinate**_: She doesn't think the day will come when she does not find the human attitude just the slightest bit peculiar.

_**026. Forget:**_ "I just got here", Diana says as she places down her tray... and tries to dismiss the vague sensation of Déjà Vu which is creeping in around her neck.

_**27. Hurt**_: The sensation leaves her quickly as she remembers –she's Wonder Woman; there's no pain on earth she can't overcome.

_**028. Never**_: "Oh-kaaaaay, first rule of the day, Booster – never, ever, _ever_ make suggestive comments about Wonder Woman's lasso."

_**029. Close**_: It isn't until she can feel his breath –not that those such as him _should_ breathe– on the back of her neck that Diana finally turns around to find out what in Hades Ares wants _this_ time.

_**030. Fade**_: Thymiscria fades into the distance behind her, as if being swallowed by the ocean, and Wonder Woman clenches her fists that little bit tighter and forbids herself to show weakness.

_**031. Direction**_: Fact of the Day: Man's world has some rather ridiculous ideas about how to design maps.

_**032: Road**_: The road to Hades is paved with good intentions, or so they say; and Diana doesn't want to think about how close she came, with the Toyman's throat in her hands and her fist aimed directly at the bone that would shatter upwards into his skull.

_**033. Question**_: "Olives, Mango juice, and... I think she may have had pizza a few nights ago; someone else bought it."

_**034. Between**_: Diana is fully cognizant of the fact that had the Flash not been sitting directly between them with that _depressingly_ optimistic look on his face, then she and Shayera would be at each other's throats by now.

_**035. Trap**_: It's an unspoken rule amongst many of her best known villains – watch out for the Lasso, it _does things_ when you try to catch her off guard; there's no way to trap her.

_**036. Dress**_: The delicate black material is not the kind of outfit she usually keeps in her wardrobe, but it appears to have the desired effect.

_**037. Admit**_: Her anger towards Shayera will not permit Diana to admit the fact that she misses her companionship.

_**038. Chance**_: With a deep breath and the sensation of a heavy weight lifting from her shoulders, Diana looks at Shayera and smiles, "works for me."

_**039. Believe**_: She isn't sure whether it's _really_ Hera who sustains her through the darkest nights in this world, but there's certainly _something_ keeping her here.

_**040. Dream**_: She dreams of home with its white sands and sun-kissed temples, and feels regret choking in her throat when she awakens in the dull, smoggy morning of a city in the heart of another world.

_**041. Shine**_: The tiara –part of Artemis's ensemble or not, you can't really call it _armour– _glistens brightly in the sun, and it takes Diana a moment to realise that there's _still_ a bunch of preteen girls standing around the burned out library, staring at their rescuer in... Well, wonder.

_**042. Tied**_: It's an easy enough question to answer –when you _don't_ have a lasso of truth around your waist: "okay, okay, so it scared the living crap out of me; hell, _you'd_ freak out if you nearly _ran yourself out of existence!_"

_**043. Consider**_: "I;m pretty certain that that key around your neck will open the cell door whether _you're_ conscious or not, so I'll give you ten seconds to consider the alternative."

_**044. Couple**_: "A rich kid with issues," he says... as if he thinks that being _royalty_ banished from your homeland is anything easier.

_**045. Undercover**_: She knows there's more than one reason for other Leaguer's hiding their faces –it's difficult to go undercover when you're Wonder Woman.

_**046. Care**_: "I apologise for intruding, Alfred, it's just that after this whole mess with the Joker and Robin... Yes, I thought he'd say something like that; tell him I'll be visiting anyway."

_**047. Creep**_: Diana has no idea exactly what this strange man thought he could achieve by tying her up with her own lasso, but she's beginning to suspect she should have a few choice words with the editor of that website.

_**048. Empty**_: Hades heart is as empty of compassion as her own is of sentiment when she discovers exactly who he is – it doesn't matter to her, and it never will.

_**049. Bones**_: She outlives almost all of them, and stands as a founding member of the Original Justice League long after the bones of many generations have turned to dust.

_**050. Writers choice**_: Diana isn't certain, but at some point, she started answering to "Wonder Woman" as readily as she does "Diana", even though the name was cooked up by tabloid journalists who had clearly been given too little time to come up with a decent by-line.

* * *

**In case you don't know (many of you probably don't) number 009 is a shout out to a popular advert for a credit card that's had many incarnations on British television. **


	3. J'onn

**Hmm. My J'onn voice makes my Wonder Woman voice look brilliant XD... Just goes to show you, I need more practise. But nonetheless, it's his turn, and the prompts spoke to him. **

**I also totally took liberties with the last one, but you can cut me some slack there, right? **

* * *

**J'onn Jonzz.**

**001. _Temptation_:** He may be over eight hundred (earth) years in age, but his resolve breaks easily despite this when Morgana offers to return to him that which he has lost.

_**002. Addiction:**_"No, seriously, guys, I didn't mean to give him the... well how was _I_ supposed to know Martians reacted like that to _oreos_?!"

_**003. Greed**_: Self indulgence is not a native sensation for Martians –or so he tells himself as, for the umpteenth time, he tunes into the farthest edge of Flash's subconscious just to listen to the fast-paced laughter buzzing inside of his mind.

_**004. Faith**_: There are no Martian Gods –not anymore, at any rate.

_**005. Delusional**_: _Lies_ – all of it is lies, for he sees now that Morgana offers nothing but distant memories at too great a cost.

_**006. Innocence**_: "_You are the little girl who's lost, aren't you... no, it's alright, I won't harm you, I promise: this... This is simply how my kind speaks sometimes_."

_**007. Stained**_: They are... different these days, their thoughts more disjointed and distant and torn apart by inner, petty conflicts; and yet, the others think that J'onn is the one whose attitude has changed...

_**008. Procrastinate: **_Over five hundred years beneath the Martian sands in a protected chamber... J'onn has learned a thing or two about occupying himself.

_**009. Dirty**_: He is unsure how to explain it – how the sour thoughts and tainted feelings of others seems to imprint itself upon his very soul –, and feels certain that they would not understand anyway.

_**010. Lie**_: "I apologise, I wasn't aware that you had something you wanted to hide."

_**011. Forgive:**_ "Apology accepted; and the next time you want Oreos, Flash, you only have to ask."

_**012. Lose**_: It is exactly as he said: He has survived the loss of one family –he will survive the loss of another.

_**013. Want**_**: **She smiles at him –and her thoughts offer nothing less and nothing more than honesty, trust and kindness, even though she doesn't even speak his language... J'onn thinkshe must be in love.

_**014. Bury:**_ There had been no burial for the Martians who died in the final battle –J'onn would never have been capable of servicing them all; yet this does not seem much comfort, even five hundred years later, long after their corpses have rotted into dust.

_**015. Choke**_: He says her name, and finds that it is the first time in centuries he has been able to do so without choking:"M'yri'ah"

_**016. Burn**_: The fire is close enough that he doesn't have to imagine the burning, and J'onn finds he can't quite focus again until the flames have flickered and died.

_**017. Change: **_It seems that for J'onn Jonzz,centuries alone below ground was nothing in comparison to three hours in the company of the most gifted and _confusing_ six people on planet earth.

_**018. Regret**_: Five hundred years worth of regrets... it's surprising to him that everyone seems to think he's a good person to go to for advice.

_**019. Slip**_: "Uh, hey J'onn, you do know that Shayera and Wally aren't allowed in the kitchen together at the same tim— what do you mean it _slipped your mind_?"

_**020. Smirk**_: Maybe one of the strangest things Clark has learned so far about Martians is that, in their natural form, they are incapable of smiling –with their _mouths_, at any rate.

_**021. Fragile**_: There is nothing weak about the Martian psyche –what with having the thoughts and feelings of half a planet in there, he can't afford for there to be.

_**022. Secret**_: Secrets are another thing which J'onn has no need for –not because of any particular Martian philosophy, but because he has seen too many lives destroyed when small omissions of truth become blatant lies.

_**023. Past**_: It saddens him that he cannot quite remember the away his children's thought patterns felt.

_**24. Fantasy**_: "She offered me everything I ever wanted, everything I had lost... for a moment it was almost enough."

_**025. Enough**_: Shayera is muttering about her lack of opportunity to attack things in the previous battle, Wally is laughing inside and out, Clark is keeping the peace, Bruce is... Bruce is Bruce, and for the moment, there is nothing more that J'onn needs.

_**026. Dream**_: They're always a disruption: after all, he has enough to deal with hearing everybody else's without having dreams of his own.

_**027. Waste**_: "Father, if there are really so many other planets out there like ours, will I ever see them?"

_**028. Hope**_: He holds back until the final second before letting go of the mental illusion, and feeling a surge of triumph as Batman slips unexpectedly back into the world of the living amidst the cries of Impirium's rage.

_**029. Note**_:

_Anming, _

_Assisting with bushfire relief efforts in Australia, home soon, will bring Oreos _

_Love, J'onn._

_**030. Hug**_: It's not that he wasn't expecting it, but Flash reaching out and hugging him for that one instant was almost enough to break his resolve.

_**031. Passion**_: It's probably one of the emotions he has the least difficulty understanding – the desire to come together as one is not simply a human instinct, after all.

_**032. Hold**_: It takes him only a few seconds to reclaim Flash's signal within the depths of the speedforce, and hold onto it with all his might.

_**033. Right**_: He will not abandon them when he is needed – that had never been his way.

_**034. Wrong**_: He is still a Martian – he still abhors murder in all its forms; but he learned quickly once before – he can learn again.

_**035. Strong**_: "Okay, there's another thing we can add to the list of things not to do in the Watchtower –get J'onn to open anything with a screw lid."

"I said I was sorry, perhaps next time you will purchase pickles with a stronger jar."

_**036. Wind**_: The breeze over the arctic is speckled with ice and burns the skin– but this bothers him little; Mars was never particularly humid, after all.

_**037. Paranoid**_: It's difficult to be paranoid when you're a mind reader –you already _know_ everything about who's lying, who's out to get who, and who just stole your Oreos from the communal kitchen.

_**038. Moment**_: It takes less than an instant for the fragile chains between them all to snap – and many, many months to piece them back together afterwards.

_**039. Song**_: "Goodness, I don't think I've ever heard a Martian singing be—

"Martha, shh."

"Sorry..."

_**040. Touch**_: It takes her several instances to realise that the faint brushing against the back of her mind is mental and not physical, and smiles – she can always tell when he's home.

_**041. Shake**_: "I fail to understand this character... and I do _not_ see how there is any notable difference in this drink depending on whether it is "shaken or stirred"."

_**042. Psychic**_ : "What is it _this time_, Wally? And please, do _not_ tell me you wish to patch a communication through to Fire again; I am _not_ a telepathic instant messaging service."

_**043. Spirit**_: "That is a difficult question to answer, Donald. Martians are born with awareness of the thoughts and feelings and pains and dreams of all those who surround us, we're cognizant of our own being from birth, I suppose... souls have never been a particular necessity."

_**044. Magick**_: While he lacks Superman's outright aversion to magical attacks, J'onn has to admit there is nothing quite as distracting as Dr Fate probing into your mind – especially when it's usually _you_ who does the probing.

_**045.**_ _**God**_: A huge chunk of metropolis has vanished in a glare of light – and J'onn realises that Its times like this that he wishes there were a Martian God.

_**046. Ghost**_: He sings- more out of a necessary instinct than any particular emotion – and the ghosts of his people linger in the melody long after the song has ended.

_**047. Belong**_: he feels a sense of belonging in the crowded streets of Hubei, and the echoing corridors of the Metro Tower: but his heart is of Mars, and always shall be.

_**048. Tear(s)**_: Martians are incapable of tears – they cry with their song and their voices, and even a whisper of their fears can send shudders down a mortal man's spine.

_**049. Drown**_: The argument feels as if it's been going on forever deep inside of their minds, and J'onn would almost be relieved that it is finally showing itself, if it weren't for the fact that the emotions are storming him in an absolute deluge, and he's somehow the one having to calm everyone down.

_**050. Writers' Choice:**_ "_We can—don't let go she's here—remember—J'onn's listening in—I can do this I can—Oh god there's so many—I don't know where to look I don't know where to—calm just parademons it's—brother, where's my brother what if he—I can't do this—we can do this we—I'm scared—supposed to be superheroes damn it—I don't understand—Why can't I—_**Everyone. Listen. Stay calm. We can do this.**_—Was that—That was J'onn right?—That was... —hey was that—Aw, man, long time no telepathic link, man!—J'onn!—one more for our side—He's right you know—He's right. We can do this." _


	4. Flash

**People seem to have been looking forwards to this one and truth be told, so have I. Wally's always fun to mess with. Standard disclaimers apply, reviews and concrit are appreciated. **

* * *

Flash.

_**001. Heart**_: Courage is bright blue, strength emerges from the darkness, conscience is green and dry witted, but the heart of the League is red highlighted with yellow, and has a penchant for making bad cracks about super villain attire.

_**002. Stone**_: He's fairly –and by fairly he means absolutely- sure that he just saw the Batman's iron-hard face crack into an almost smile.

_**003. Cold**_: He's only ever cold if he stands still for a particularly long time –or if he's been sucked out into the vacuum of space... there's also that.

_**004. Hole**_: His mere few-minutes-long absence after Fire let go feels like an empty hole in her stomach.

_**005. Cut**_: "Hey, what're you lookin' a— ohh, no worries little cut like that'll be healed in a few minutes... and it's okay by the way, Bats, I know all about the mind control screwin' with your head; you didn't mean it."

_**006. Queue**_: "Wally calm the _hell_ down and stand _still_ for once, you're only gonna attract the Thanagarians attention if you keep zipping around in the queue like that."

_**007. Turn**_: By the time she's has turned around to see who is tapping her on the shoulder, that damned sneaky speedster is already in front of her and stealing the popcorn right out of her hand –Kara humours him.

_**008. Apathy**_: He knows he's meant to be on the ball here, but it's hard to be enthusiastic when you're facing down a guy whose idea of Super Villainy involves plastic yoyos and spinning tops.

_**009. Innocence**_: He's young, brash, immature, and has absolutely no idea what messing around with that row of chemicals at this particular moment is going to change him into.

_**010. Stay**_: "Hey, calm down, it's okay, I'm not goin' anywhere... Superheroes like us get beaten up _all the_ _time_.'

_**011.**__**Drunk**_: John considers it a blessing that alcohol doesn't affect Wally for more than a few minutes –a few crazy, frantic, _ridiculous_ minutes, but...

_**012. Attitude**_: "Chill, All-Star: see, there's no doomsday devices, a good strong police presence in the background, no Lex Luthor, and you're lucky enough to have all of us old schoolers on the team... so no worries, okay, kid?"

_**013. Rational**_: "...Man, Cheri, I know I should be rational about stuff like this by now, but... you never quite get used to seein' firsthand how much blood there is in... such a small body."

_**014. Possible**_: "Possible? Sure it's possible, there's not much you can't accomplish when you can run at the speed of sound, right?"

_**015. Temperature**_: Advantages to being on Flash's team during their most recent mission to the arctic is the fact that he's always just slightly warmer than a normal human being –he's like a bright red electric blanket... albeit one made of spandex and Kevlar.

_**016. Goodbye**_: "_Shayera, please let me _go_, I can't go back there, I _can't."

_**017. Hero**_: There's a saying that even someone who is willing to save your life will not help you paint the fence, but whoever wrote that saying had obviously never met the Flash."

_**018. Point**_: "Yeah, that's great, Zat, but all I'm hearing is a bunch of mystical mumbo jumbo, can you break it down a little for the science brains in this group?"

_**019. Try**_: he thinks about it for subjectively as long as he needs to before taking a deep breath and plunging his hand into the Box O'Doom: _If at first you don't succeed, right_?

_**020. Dinner**_: "Hey what you call dinner I call a mouthful, let's go get some Ben and Jerry's already."

_**021. Scar**_: "Yeah it looked all cool and mysterious for like, an hour, but then it started fading an' now it just looks like I've been leanin' against a desk for too long... Bummer, huh?"

_**022. Perfect**_: "Okay okay so I might've gotten the hydrochloric acid mixed up with the saline solution but... oh come on, Barry, nobody's perfect and it's not like I destroyed _all_ the evidence!"

_**023. Solution**_: "...Hey does anyone know the answer for seven down? "_In science: __red blood cells amassing in reaction to f an antibody. Last letter "n"_.'

"Agglutination, thirteen letters."

"Oh... um... thanks, Flash."

_**024. Science**_: It's amazing how often the intricacies of his supposedly complicated job still come down to "what happens when I pour this stuff on this flammable material?"

_**025. Proud**_: "His name's Bart, um, he's... my mentor's kid... yeah, fast, isn't he? Totally a rival for his uncle Wally."

_**026. Pretend**_: He's smarter than they think he is, all of them, and that's an advantage Flash is quite happy to take advantage of.

_**027. Late**_: "I don't believe this, John, he's the Fastest Man Alive, he can go straight to Italy whenever he wants a pizza, devour a whole meal in a matter of seconds... and yet _he's late_.

_**028. Forever**_: Of course, it's no good telling Wally that he's only been waiting five minutes, because for him it _feels_ like forever.

_**029. Defend**_: "Okay, see, we were doing pretty okay there until you decided to start threatening the girls, now I'm gonna have to kick your ass."

_**030. Gone**_: The seconds last forever, dragging on instant by instant, and Shayera realises with a choke of pain "_This is how it must feel for him... every day, every minute of his life_", before the gateway to the Speed-force finally opens.

_**031. Determined**_: "Hades be _damned_, Wally if we have to fight a God to get you out of that thing we _will_, now come _back_!"

_**032. Abducted**_: "Yeah okay rule number one, mooks, never try to abduct a guy who can just vibrate outta the restraints – cool?"

_**033. Communication**_: He can see her lips moving, but he's pretty sure his ears are all busted up from falling off the train, because he can't understand a damn thing coming out of it.

_**034. Disguise**_: "But... but how did you know it was me? I used a fake moustache and everything!"

**035. Drugged**: "Look, we're trying everything possible in modern medicine here, but we can't help it if he keeps burning through the sedative!"

_**036. Tragedy**_: "Her name was Iris, Iris Allen, she... well... she would've been a good mom, you know?"

_**037. Butterfly**_: "Hey, J'onn, scientific puzzle for ya: if you were to morph a butterfly while you're at home in china, could you tell if it was having an effect over here?"

_**038. Effect**_: "...Wally I am... not certain if utter confusion was the effect you were going for here but... how in the Sands of Mars would I know the answer to a question like that?"

_**039. Design**_: He swears that the goofy Lightning Bolts were the previous Flash's idea – but he always finds ways not to go any further on the subject.

_**040. Substance**_: It's not the way Batman would have chosen to phrase it – but Orion's explanation about a warrior's pain and the protective shield of laughter seems to fit Flash well enough.

_**041. Smoke**_: "I swear I am _never_ gonna work out how she does that talking-backwards-and-disappearing stuff, I thought magicians used smoke for that?"

_**042. Paranormal**_: "You know the number of these things freaky haunting things I'm dealing with lately, they should rename us to the Justice Ghostbuster Squad."

_**043. Spooky**_: "Okay is anybody else getting a creeped out tingling feeling in their spine or is it just... oh, wait, never mind I was sitting on an ice cream cone."

_**044. Spy**_: "I know you're there, Wally; get _out_ of the refrigerator and go bother Dick."

_**045. Morph**_: The bubble of time morphs itself around him and after that, ripping Brainiac straight out of Luthor's body is as easy for Wally as shelling a nut.

_**046. Pulse**_: It's been over a decade since Wally had a pulse, so he doesn't panic too much when he can't find one.

_**047. Dare**_: "I swear to _god_, Ralph, I am _so_ getting you back for this one, nobody out dares me, you hear?"

_**048. Whisper**_: Only Clark hears Wally whispering under his breath as Shayera leaves the cave; and he's good enough not to mention so out loud.

_**049. Insecure**_: "So, uh... Fire... um... do you like food?"

_**050. Writers' Choice**_: He really is their conscience; their heart and core and sense of humour... and it's very, _very_ important that he never finds that out.


	5. Green Lantern

**Sentences which follow on from a previous sentence are indicated.**

John Stewart – Green Lantern

_**#01 – Comfort**_: 'Hey, don't worry about it, son; this ring's a lot more powerful than it looks; trust me, everything's gonna be fine.'

_**#02 – Kiss**_: In these moments, when she's so close that he can't make out the shape of her wings, it's easy to forget that Shayera isn't human.

_**#03 – Soft**_: The word "soft" isn't in John's vocabulary; (he's an Ex-Marine for gods sakes) so he can't help but feel surprised when Mari uses the word in reference to him with a faint laugh; then again, they _had_ been watching Old Yeller, at the time…

_**#04 – Pain**_: He tells himself that the sensation is something to be grateful for – pain, after all, means only that you're still alive to feel it.

_**#05 – Potatoes**_: 'Wait, you're telling me that John was a _troublemaker_ as a kid? _John_? What'd he do? Refuse to eat his vegetables, those... whatever you call them on this planet… potatoes, right?'

_**#06 – Rain**_: He supposes he could use the ring to create an umbrella or something, but that hardly seems like an appropriate use of his abilities… even in a rainforest. Still, the temptation is there.

_**#07 – Chocolate**_: The time he and his friends had broken into the ice cream van when he was ten is a memory that John recalls with mixed feelings –remorse is one of them, certainly, but _damn_, that had been some good candy.

_**#08 – Happiness**_: The night after the official opening of the Metro Tower is the first time in a long while that he has taken monitor duty happily, and without complaint.

_**#09 – Telephone**_: "_Yes_, Flash, I'm calling you via the Tower Link to… _Yes_, this is a personal issue, damn it, I… Look, Wally, you can rub my hypocrisy in my face later, for now just _listen_ to me, this is important."

_**#10 – Ears**_: A part of him wonders whether they simply don't notice that he's listening to their "girl talk" (which mostly consists of jokes about how he organizes his sock drawer and tears up at Old Yeller) or if they knows, and simply aren't all that concerned.

_**#11 – Name**_: 'Call me John, kid; I'm only a Green Lantern on duty.'

_**#12 – Sensual**_: "Now, Boo, I seem to recall some promises being made about just what that ring could do to me…"

_**#13 – Death**_: He dies the way he had always imagined he would –on the battlefield, surrounded by allies; yet he hadn't imagined that there would be so many aliens amongst them…

_**#14 – Sex**_: John can't help but feel that the universe just enjoys kicking him in the backside, when he and Shayera's first child turns out to be a girl, with all of her mother's beauty, and none of his hard edges.

_**#15 – Touch (continued from # 14)**_: She clings to his finger with a tight, claw like little grip, and John realizes that it isn't just her mother's features that his firstborn possesses.

_**#16 – Weakness**_: Watchtower gossip of the week – is the Green Lantern's weakness that specific shade of yellow, or just bowls of jello that _happen_ to be that colour?

_**#17 – Tears**_: He survived the battles, lived through the air assaults, and stared into the barrel of a gun without flinching… and yet, when the coffins of his former troop members appears, coated with flags of red and white and blue, it takes all of John's self control not to break down.

_**#18 – Speed**_: The fact of it was they had needed to catch that bad guy and the ring was out of power –but there's still something very, very ironic about the fact that he got a _speeding ticket_ when he had the _Flash_ in the passenger seat.

_**#19 – Wind**_: At twenty thousand feet the air is thin and prickles with ice particles, yet John stays there for a long time, trying to get to grips with how incredibly different and sterile a battlefield looks from so high above.

_**#20 – Freedom**_: He'd never admit it to Wally, but yeah - the flying is awesome.

_**#21 – Life**_: There are advantages to the new uniform –namely, the fact that he may never have to kill another man in all his life.

_**#22 – Jealousy**_: He doesn't care what anyone says, he is _not_ jealous that Mari is having a perfectly innocent business related dinner with Bruce Wayne, damn it.

_**#23 – Hands**_: General assumption, for some reason, seems to be that all Green Lanterns are right handed, provided that they only have two hands in the first place, that is.

_**#24 – Taste**_: He loves her, but better to walk right back into an enemy firing line than ever again have to touch Shayera's cooking.

_**#25 – Devotion**_: To be honest, John was a little uneasy about the "under god" line in his pledge of allegiance, seeing as he isn't sure he wants to be professing his loyalty to something he isn't convinced exists.

_**#26 – Forever (follow on from #25)**_: …Still, with all of space around him, reaching into what seems like forever, the idea that it perhaps isn't as empty as it seems is a comforting one.

_**#27 – Blood (follow on from # 13)**_: And there is the blood, just as he had expected it to be… funny though; he had (perhaps naively) imagined there would be more pain…

_**#28 – Sickness**_: The more wars he sees, the more children he has to pull out of wrecked cars and drug dens and underground sweat shops, the more John wonders whether there's something fundamentally _wrong_ with the human condition.

_**#29 – Melody**_: There is a music within the Lantern Core, the likes of which he –no human, in fact– has never heard before; it's tangible and audible, like somebody had taken the oath, distilled it to its meaning, and fashioned it into Beethoven and Mozart and all those other classical geniuses that John has never listened to before, and now resolves to in the future.

_**#30 – Star**_: "Heh, nah, that ain't a star, John; that's _Oa_, the Core of the Guardians… there's a place there for you now, too."

_**#31 – Home**_: He has a massive expanse of the galaxy within his head, but if anyone had spoken the word "home" to him, it would conjure up images of Detroit sunshine and pavements hot enough to melt the soles of cheap trainers.

_**#32 – Confusion**_: People often wonder how he can operate so well alongside such divergent personalities as the Flash and Superman; John doesn't blame them; he's never been able to understand it, either.

_**#33 – Fear**_: The day that he stops fearing the power, and overestimating the potential of the weapon he commands, John thinks, is the day he needs to retire.

_**#34 - Lightning/Thunder**_: Nothing says "apocalypse" like the heavens being filled with green lightning, wrapped around a Man Hunter quite ready to destroy the universe.

_**#35 – Bonds**_: There's duty and there's privilege, and there's the foggy line at which those two cross over and you can't decide which is which anymore – he's not sure if that's a descript of the Marines, or of the Corps.

_**#36 – Market**_: "For the last time, "_sir"_, I'm _not_ going to endorse the production of a range of _Green Lantern Ring_ Toy sets… I don't care if there's a market for it!"

_**#37 – Technology**_: He's never been able to explain (to himself or anyone else) just how the ring operates – sophisticated technology or standard magic? What does it matter, so long as it gets the job done?

_**#38 – Gift**_: It's made of green and blue plasticine which has gone soft and sticky in the heat and looks more like a squashed scarecrow than a Green Lantern, but the Shelter kid hands it to him like it's made of solid gold; it's sitting on top of the fridge back at his apartment.

_**#39 – Smile**_: "Ah… yeah, thanks, Mrs. Winters, I'm uh… I'm sure those… _Bad guys_ won't be showing up at the apartment again, not after you took that broom handle to 'em."

_**#40 – Innocence**_: Seven years old, an unusually hot Mayday, and John had sat grinning on the front of a display tank and had his picture taken with a Marines Officer.

_**#41 – Completion**_: Winning a battle should feel better than this… but all he can take in is the haunted look on Wally's face, and the niggling awareness of what would've happened if Shayera hadn't held on as tight as she did.

_**#42 – Clouds**_: They look like clouds at first, but John's been in enough wars and seen enough gas smog's to know what they really are long before anyone else does.

_**#43 – Sky**_: His is a solemn duty; one for which he was chosen out of six million others, but he's not going to deny it – the flying is fun.

_**#44 – Heaven**_: They say the worst thing about Hell is that you can see heaven, and it's true: from the courtroom on Adjuras, John can make out the faint glimmer of a star that is probably earth.

_**#45 – Hell ((follow on from # 44)**_: But earth has its fair share of hells, and every time you uncover one of them, you find another one buried even deeper.

_**#46 – Sun**_: Until the White Martians came to block out the sun, John hadn't imagined that the phrase "In darkest day" could ever be taken literally.

_**#47 – Moon**_: "Don't diss it, kid, remember we were landing on that moon way before the Lantern Crop gave me this ring to make it easier."

_**#48 – Waves**_: Wally asked him a question earlier: "how can light be both a particle, and wave?"; but those things are irrelevant to the Ring anyway – it can create whatever particles or wave sof light it wants, and cares nothing for scientific, human limitations.

_**#49 – Hair**_: He contemplates asking Mari whether she actually _likes_ the beard… then whacks himself about the head and reminds himself that taking style advice from Ex-Girlfriends is always a really, really bad idea.

_**#50 – Supernova**_: It's green rather than burning white, and there's no heat – only constant, crackling sensation and energy, but a supernova is the closest thing he can compare it to, as the words "_behold my power_" burst from his lungs virtually on instinct.

* * *


End file.
